I am finishing a 12.5' wide space with 9' ceilings in my basement and want to put in a HC6500. I have 16' total depth but have a cross beam at 12.5' that when finished will hang about 11" down. The viewing area is open to the rest of the basement at the back and a window to the immediate right of the screen. I am going with a dual LCD (52")/PJ setup for day/night viewing with blackout coverings on the window for maximum light control. Ideally I would have a 100" tab tensioned screen at a minimum.

My question is which option should I go with for mounting the PJ:

Option 1: mount in front of the beam, high wife approval factor since the unit is out of view from the rest of the basement, but only about a 10.5' throw. When I use the PJ Pro calculator it looks like I can accommodate a 100" but I am at the maxed end of the zoom.

Option 2: move the unit behind the beam, lower wife approval factor because it will have to be mounted on an extension to accommodate the beam, but it gives me more options on screen size.

I am thinking Option 1 is the best but reducing the screen size to a 92" to put me more in the middle of the zoom range. If I go with Option 2 then I can easily fit a 110" but the drop screen will hang lower because of the beam and this affects the placement of my B&W 7NT fronts....I basically would have to place them at the corners.

What should I do? Go big or go small?

It's better to at least have the option of going bigger. My HC6500 projects on a 135" diagonal screen and I find it to be a very immersive and theatrical presentation.

What is your seating distance?

John